Judge tosses gun-packing doctor's challenge to Massachusetts firearms laws

A federal judge today dismissed a lawsuit by a now former radiologist over the state's gun laws, saying the Supreme Court still gives states the rights to regulate guns and besides, he really needs to first finish his appeal in state court on his convictions for illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Kang Lu, whose determination to always pack a gun has lost him his right to practice medicine in most states - because he would routinely check "No" when asked if he had been convicted of any crimes - and which saw him arrested at the Canadian border, sued Massachusetts in federal court in September, arguing the Second Amendment gives him an absolute right to carry a gun without worrying about state gun-registration requirements.

But in a ruling today, US District Court Judge Angel Kelley said no, the Second Amendment does not do that.

"Lu's claim challenging licensing requirements is not viable under the Supreme Court's decision in Bruen which explicitly upheld such licensing schemes," she wrote, referring to a 2022 Supreme Court decision that said the Second Amendment gives American the right to pack heat in public - but which did not overrule the general idea of state gun-licensing regulations.

She added that even aside from that, she had to dismiss Lu's case - which he brought by himself without a lawyer - because he is currently appealing, to the Massachusetts Appeals Court, his convictions last year in Hampden Superior Court. Federal courts only rarely intercede in actions before state courts, and never when there is no indication that the state proceedings are an outgrowth of harassment or that state judges will not comport themselves according to federal constitutional limits, and there is no evidence Massachusetts courts are trampling on Lu's rights, she wrote.

Kelley also tossed requests by a variety of gun fans, including a convicted gun runner now serving in the New Hampshire legislature, to join Lu's case, because with her main ruling, there is no longer a case to join.